Almeida didn't pull on PdB as well.
He dropped himself early, so he can pace himself up the mountain and keep his GC place.
I think that's a revisionism of what really happened.
As soon as the final climb started (PdB, 15,8km to go), Visma sent Jorgenson pacing upfront. It was a crazy pace and blew up what was left of the peloton.
At 12km to go Almeida and Ciccone dropped (Ciccone is no slouch).
Who's left at that point: Jorgenson, Vingegaard, Pog, Yates, Remco, Landa, Carlos Rodriguez and Buitrago.
At 11km to go, Buitrago and Rodriguez drop.
At 10,5km Jorgenson starts the lead out for Vingegaard's attack. Vinge attacks and only Pog reacts. Everybody else is dropped.
At 5,5km to go Pog attacks and goes solo for the win.
At the end of the day, Jorgenson's pace was simply too much for everyone other than the 2 mutants and Remco. I don't believe anybody else (including Almeida, Yates or Landa) could have done anything more than they did.
ps: according to Watts2Win, this climb was the career personal best climb for Pog, Vingegaard, Remco, Carlos Rodriguez and Buitrago.
And 2nd best for Landa, 3rd for Yates and 5th for Almeida.
Tour de France 2024 | Tadej Pogacar was the fastest on the climb of Plateau de Beille. Discover all times and watts estimations on Watts2Win.
watts2win.eu
That was a crazy crazy hard pace.